Adventures of an Aviatrix, in which a pilot travels the skies and the treacherous career path of Canadian commercial aviation, gaining knowledge and experience without losing her step, her licence, or her sense of humour.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Whacked

Do WAC charts exist in your country? WAC stands for Wide Area Chart World Aeronautical Chart, but clearly I can't remember that, therefore I just call them "WAC charts." WAC Chart is one of those redundancies that can be used to annoy the same people who cringe when you enter your PIN number into the ATM machine. A WAC is a 1:1,000,000 scale visual navigation chart, and that is a really good scale for long trips in a medium-sized airplane. WACs have not been revised in ages, and have become increasingly difficult to buy in Canada. They are still occasionally available, but haven't been printed for years, so as they go out of print, they're gone. Then, in a recent AIM update, it was announced that "the term “WAC” was removed" from GEN 5.2, the section of the Airman's Information Manual where it appeared. I always think this kind of revision is kind of 1984. The WAC has been erased from existence. Some people would argue that with modern GPS technology the need for WACs was literally a relic of 1984, but my GPS screen can't be unfolded to cover a hotel bed, damnit. They're a really good planning size.

Also, for my current job, they are the only aviation chart that identifies photo blocks right on the chart.

We have WACs here in Oz They're very handy for VFR flight beyond the capital cities. I suspect Canada, like Australia, has vast expanses of Class G airspace.

My ATPL instructor told me that when he was in RAAF in the 80s he was planning a flight between Alice Springs and Broome. He opened the WAC to find a huge blank space in the middle with the words "This area unsurveyed." He reckoned the blank map was a pretty good match with the blank terrain anyway.